<p>ST. PAUL, Minn. - After a successful push to raise the minimum wage, some Minnesota Democrats want to establish a statewide paid family leave program.</p>
<p>Workers would be able to take up to six weeks off from work for a birth, adoption or to take care of a sick relative under the proposal. They'd make at least two-thirds of their pay during that time.</p>

Democrats are seizing on the fight for mandatory paid leave in the United States as their next big pocketbook issue. The Obama administration has for months called upon Congress to require employers to offer paid leave, with Labor Secretary Tom Perez relentlessly pressing the case to anyone who will listen. And while potential Democratic presidential candidates, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), have voiced support for the proposal, the party has yet to elevate paid leave to the top tier of its policy agenda. That will soon change, according to Democratic operatives, administration officials...

Tens of thousands of federal workers are being kept on paid leave for at least a month — and often for longer stretches that can reach a year or more — while they wait to be punished for misbehavior or cleared and allowed to return to work, government records show. During a three-year period that ended last fall, more than 57,000 employees were sent home for a month or longer. The tab for these workers exceeded $775 million in salary alone. The extensive use of administrative leave continues despite government personnel rules that limit paid leave for employees facing discipline...

AMERSFOORT, The Netherlands (JTA) — After the latest attack on his home, Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs sat down on his couch, picked up the phone and made three calls. A chief rabbi of the Netherlands, Jacobs first phoned police and a Jewish community leader to tell them that late on the night of July 17, just over a week after the onset of the latest round of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, four bricks were hurled through a window of his home. It was the fifth time in recent years that Jacobs’ residence had been attacked. Then Jacobs called...

The May 24, 2014 terrorist attack at the Brussels Jewish Museum that killed four people (including an Israeli couple) has spurred serious discussions about European anti-Semitism in European capitals and at the European Union (EU) headquarters in Brussels. The jihadist killer was a French Muslim of Arab North African extraction, named Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, who spent over a year in Syria, and had links with radical Islamists. Earlier, in 2012, a horrible murder of a rabbi and three children at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France committed by Mohammad Merah, a jihadist, North-African Arab Muslim, points to a pattern. Both...

Sriracha Hot Sauce may move its factory out of California because of a months-long battle with the city of Irwindale over the smell from the factory, the Los Angeles Times reports. Sriracha sauce creator David Tran said on Wednesday that there have been multiple offers from other cities in California as well as other states to move his factory and leave Irwindale behind. He invited the various interested parties to tour the factory and see if the smell would be a problem. One week ago, the Irwindale City Council voted unanimously Tran’s factory to be declared a public nuisance even...

Sean Hannity tells his audience he is leaving New York state after Cuomo’s comments. Sean said he discussed it with his wife and they are moving to Texas or Florida. “Look, I have contractual obligations, I can’t leave here. My kids are in school. And there are about over 100 people who that rely on me. People who have kids and mortgages and homes. I can’t selfishly pack up and leave. But my wife and I discussed last night Dana that we are going to leave. I wouldn’t pay a 10% state tax in Florida or Texas. I would save...

“Now I want to tell you something – I was born and raised in New York,” Hannity said. “I want you to know that and I can’t wait to get out of here. I really can’t. I don’t want to pay their 10-percent state tax anymore. I live in the second-highest property taxed county in the entire country in Nassau County. I can’t wait to sell my house to somebody who wants it. I can’t wait to pay no state income tax down in Florida or Texas. I haven’t decided yet, but I’m leaning Florida because I like the water...

Seattle’s newly elected Socialist councilwoman accused aerospace and defense giant Boeing on Monday of “economic terrorism” and told Boeing machinists they should consider taking “over the factories.” “The workers should take over the factories, and shut down Boeing’s profit-making machine,” Kshama Sawant told a group of activists in the city’s Westlake Park. Sawant’s comments were made at a rally organized by machinists after they rejected a deal that would reduce pensions for union members in return for guaranteed jobs in Everett, Wash., building 777X Boeing airliners for eight years. Now Boeing is considering taking those jobs elsewhere. “That will be...

Kenyan police and soldiers have pinned down the remaining gunmen who opened fire at a shopping centre earlier today, killing 30 and leaving at least 50 others injured. A security source at the scene in the capital Nairobi confirmed moments ago the attackers have been isolated. The source said: 'The attackers have been isolated and are pinned down in an area on one of the floors - the rest of the mall seems to be secure.' No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is looking increasingly likely the Somalia terrorist group al-Shabaab may be responsible. A statement released...

The Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Protesters angered by the acquittal of George Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin's killing are leaving the Florida Capitol after staging a 31-day protest. The small but determined group wanted Gov. Rick Scott to call a special session to repeal the state's "stand your ground" law. Scott refused. But House Speaker Will Weatherford agreed to hold a legislative hearing on the law. Organizers say they are not giving up on their goals.

The State Department on Tuesday ordered non-essential personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen to leave the country following the threat by al-Qaida that has triggered temporary shutdowns of 19 American diplomatic posts across the Middle East and Africa. The department said in a travel warning that it had ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel from Yemen "due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks" and said U.S. citizens in Yemen should leave immediately because of an "extremely high" security threat level. "As staff levels at the Embassy are restricted, our ability to assist U.S. citizens in an...

The US State Department has ordered citizens and non-emergency government staff to leave Yemen "immediately" due to security threats. --SNIP-- The BBC's Abdullah Ghorab, in Sanaa, says the Yemeni capital has been experiencing unprecedented security measures, with hundreds of armoured military vehicles deployed to secure the presidential palace, vital infrastructural buildings and Westerns embassies in the capital. Our correspondent says that a security source confirmed Yemeni intelligence services had discovered that tens of al-Qaeda members had arrived in Sanaa over the past few days from other regions in preparation for the implementation of a large plot. The source described the...

Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service’s director of exempt organizations, has been placed on administrative leave, according to a source in the agency’s Cincinnati office. Lerner on Thursday afternoon sent an e-mail to employees in the exempt organizations division she oversees stating, “Due to the events of recent days, I am on administrative leave starting today. An announcement will be made shortly informing you who will be acting while I am on administrative leave. I know all of you will continue to support EO’s mission during these difficult times.” She concluded, “I thank you for all your hard work and...

U.S. President Barack Obama plans to soon propose to Iran that it negotiate directly with the Americans about its nuclear program, Channel 10 News reported on Tuesday. The report, which cited a senior American official, said that Obama's move was made without any coordination or consultation with Israel. According to the report, the Americans probably will allow a period of four to five months for negotiations with Tehran. If the talks fail, they may then resort to the military option. As well, Obama is planning to set preconditions for contacts with the Islamic Republic, including that it halt its uranium...

"Leavin’ on a jet plane: Obama supporters vow exodus from US if Romney wins" Oof. Another election, another litany of threats from American liberals vowing to leave the country if a Republican is elected president:

The National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau (NSCCTBCTB) issued on Thursday a serious warning against travelling to the Sinai Peninsula, and called on Israelis vacationing in the area to leave immediately. "From information at our disposal, it arises that terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip and additional elements are actively planning to perpetrate terrorist attacks, especially abductions, against Israeli tourists in Sinai in the immediate term," the NSCCTB's warning said. "The NSCCTB reiterates its call to all Israelis in Sinai to leave the area immediately and return home. The families of Israelis in Sinai are requested to contact them and update...

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Minnesota teachers have been taking medical leaves more often in recent years, and while there could be many factors for the increase, some teachers say they are using the leaves to get a break from mounting pressures and high expectations being placed on them. A Minnesota School Boards Association survey of 85 school districts found a 27 percent increase in days that educators spent on various types of leave in 2008 compared with two years earlier. The association also said it has been receiving more questions about medical leaves, while districts have seen a spike in mental-health-related leave...

(AP) DAMASCUS, Syria - Two strong explosions shook the Syrian capital Thursday, sending a plume of thick black smoke into the sky. The explosions were in the Qazaz neighborhood, where a Syrian intelligence agency has its headquarters. The explosions happened just before 8 a.m., when employees are usually arriving at work. CBS News' George Baghdadi, reporting from the scene, says about 40 burned-out cars and possibly dozens of badly burned bodies were scattered in front of the intelligence office.

Osama bin Laden aimed to assassinate President Barack Obama but directed fellow al-Qaida fighters to leave Vice President Joe Biden alone, describing him as "totally unprepared" to take over and predicting a "crisis" in America if that happened, according to a newly declassified letter from the terrorist mastermind. In the missive, part of a trove of documents seized by Navy SEALs in the raid that killed bin Laden one year ago, bin Laden asks for an update on a plan to kill Obama or Gen. David Petraeus either in Pakistan or at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. (Obama made a...

Dozens of Wisconsin National Guard soldiers are still waiting for thousands of dollars owed to them for their service in Iraq. The delay is due to bureaucratic glitches and clerical errors, the Oshkosh Northwestern reported ( http://oshko.sh/xfjOx5). The soldiers, members of the Wisconsin National Guard 1157th Transportation Co., spent much of 2006 and 2007 in Iraq. When they came home they were due extra pay or days of leave for serving multiple deployments, but some never received what was owed to them because of errors in the way the Army computed and paid the benefits. "It's frustrating," said Richard Vander...

(CBS/AP) BEIRUT - The U.S. Embassy in Damascus urged its citizens in Syria to depart "immediately," and Turkey's foreign ministry urged Turkish pilgrims to opt for flights to return home from Saudi Arabia to avoid traveling through Syria. "The U.S. Embassy continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available," said a statement issued to the American community in Syria Wednesday and posted on the Embassy's website. "The number of airlines serving Syria has decreased significantly since the summer, while many of those airlines remaining have reduced their number of flights." The warning followed...

As the Arab Spring heads into an increasingly Islamic Winter some three quarters of Arab youth want to migrate to countries outside the Middle East region, an Arab League official warned on Wednesday. "Due to their poor enfranchisement in society and politics, and due to rising joblessness, 70 per cent of the Arab youth want to migrate out of the region," Khalid Al Wahishi, director of Population Policy and Immigration for Arab League, was quoted as saying by the Qatari daily The Peninsula. "We at Arab League have been warning member states at all our meetings to empower the youth,"...

WASHINGTON — The State Department is urging Americans in Syria to leave the besieged country immediately while commercial transportation is still available. The Syrian government is clamping down on a rebellion in the city of Hama, the center of anti-government activity. Thousands of protesters across the country are marching, demanding solidarity with the people of Hama and demanding the ouster of President Bashar Assad. On Friday, the State Department urged U.S. citizens who must remain in Syria to limit travel and warned U.S. citizens not in the country to avoid traveling there for now.

President Obama has never run a business or been forced to negotiate unless he was in a position of overwhelming strength. He is obviously clueless as to how the real world works. (The Hill) — In the midst of a rebellion from his own colleagues, John Boehner faced a big decision. It was 10 p.m. last Thursday, the most stressful moment of his Speakership. Boehner’s debt-limit bill was short on votes, and the GOP leadership was forced to change the measure so it could attract the support of recalcitrant members. With dozens of reporters staking out the Speaker’s office and...

DEARBORN, Mich. – Finishing law school is a challenge for Dewnya Bakri-Bazzi, but being an American and a Muslim can be downright exhausting. As she crammed before class this week, Bakri-Bazzi caught up on testimony from a congressional hearing on the radicalization of U.S. Muslims. She contends Rep. Peter King, the New York Republican who called it, is ignoring the positive steps Muslims have taken in fighting terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bakri-Bazzi, president of the Muslim Legal Society at Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Detroit area campus, says she fears Thursday's hearing will only spark backlash against...

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau Under this resolution, a senator who is absent without leave from two or more session days is subject to a penalty equal to $100 for each day that the senator is absent without leave. In addition, the senator must reimburse the senate for the actual costs incurred to compel his or her attendance. The penalties and costs are imposed by adopting a privileged resolution that identifies the senator who has been absent without leave. A senator who is subject to the penalties and costs imposed by the resolution may only be heard on the...

A son of a prominent rabbi in the Netherlands has announced plans to move to Israel due to anti-Semitism. Benzion Evers, son of well-known Dutch rabbi Raphael Evers, told De Telegraaf that he feels “suffocated and caged” in his home country due to anti-Jewish sentiment. “I'm fed up with the verbal abuse and the streetfighting,” he told Het Parool, another Dutch paper. “It's not that you can't leave the house, but you need to constantly hide, to be careful,” he explained. He related his own cautionary measures, which include avoiding certain neighborhoods, and hiding his kippah (yalmulke) when walking through...

"We're seeing one of the lowest mobility rates in a century," says Nathaniel Karp, chief economist for banking firm BBVA Compass. Karp says the recession has forced many people to stay put because they are unable to sell their homes, cannot find jobs or are unwilling to relocate for work if it means sacrificing a partner's stable position. The slowdown makes the question of who's moving and why even more significant than in years past. Using 2010 projections by Moody's Economy.com, Forbes ranked the states in which people are leaving faster than they are arriving. Economists report several overlapping trends...

(Reuters) - Libya has ordered a diplomat at the United States embassy in Tripoli to leave the country within 24 hours for breaching diplomatic rules, two Libyan newspapers reported on Sunday. The Libyan authorities gave no confirmation of the reports while a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, contacted by Reuters, said he had no comment. In Washington, the State Department said it had no immediate comment. "The Libyan authorities asked the Political Affairs Secretary at the U.S. embassy in Tripoli to leave Libya within 24 hours," the Internet edition of the Oea newspaper reported. Citing what it called...

Filing one mind-numbing risk report after another? Tired of never getting to implement that deal you're modeling? It's easy to unwittingly become mired in the drudgery of less-than-glamorous accounting and finance busy work, professionals in the field say -- especially considering the much less palatable alternative of ending up unemployed. But how much is too much? The Wall Street Journal recently put together their own list of ten signs it's time to leave your job. We bring you a handy list of tell-tale signs it's time to cash your last bonus check at your current gig and look for something...

An Augusta State University counseling student has filed a lawsuit against her school claiming it violated her First Amendment rights when it told her to change her traditionalist Christian views on homosexuality or get out. The Alliance Defense Fund filed suit Wednesday on behalf of Jennifer Keeton, 24, seeking to stop the school from expelling her from her master’s degree program. “They made a cascading series of presumptions about the kind of a counselor she would be and have consequently … tried to force her to change her beliefs,”

A white Ford pickup with Arizona plates is driving north on U.S. 191 headed for the Utah border. Afraid of encountering police, the family inside is traveling at night. The pickup's headlights cut through a sea of darkness. The family is in a hurry to get out of Arizona, to get away from the state's harsh new immigration law. The pickup crosses into Utah at 11:59 p.m. Luis Sanchez breathes a sigh of relief as his wife, Marlen Ramirez, keeps driving. Both are undocumented immigrants from Mexico. "Look," he says. "We are here. We have arrived in Utah."

Soon after Congress returns from the Memorial Day recess, liberal House Democrats and teacher unions will make one last push to pass a $23 billion fund to prevent teacher layoffs. Democrats are looking to package the fund with war and disaster spending in a supplemental appropriations bill the House will vote on as early as this week.

God tells us in His Word - Romans 16:17 - Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. 2 John 9-11 - Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching,do not receive him in your house and do not give him a greeting: for the...

Kabul - Taliban militants on Thursday claimed victory after the US military withdrew this week from a rebel-infested area in eastern Afghanistan that became known as the "Valley of Death". Troops pulled back from Korengal, a rugged mountainous region in Kunar province bordering Pakistan, as part of what Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said was its new "repositioning" strategy.

A Northfield middle school teacher admitted in court Wednesday that she bit off a chunk of a stranger's ear while in a St. Paul cafe last month, severing a piece of flesh that police presume she swallowed. Susan M. Mwarabu, 30, of Rochester, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to third-degree felony assault. She remains free pending sentencing May 20.

A boy of five was left stranded in a tree at school because of a bizarre health and safety policy - which banned teachers from helping him down. The mischievous pupil climbed the 20ft tree at the end of morning break and refused to come down. But instead of helping him, staff followed guidelines and retreated inside the school building to ‘observe from a distance’ so the child would not get ‘distracted and fall’.

WASHINGTON, March 22, 2010 – Some deployed servicemembers will not be charged for rest and recuperation leave under a new Defense Department policy. The new policy allows servicemembers in designated areas to go on rest and recuperation leave without charge to their leave accounts. “So in a sense, it is an administrative absence and that’s up to 15 days,” said Sam Retherford, the Defense Department’s director of officer and enlisted personnel management. In the past, the leave was charged to servicemembers’ accounts, though travel time from the theater to the airport closest to their destinations was not charged, Retherford said....

The No-mentum is getting to the White House. News is breaking out all over that President Obama will be delaying his trip to Asia from Thursday to March 21. It’s also being reported that the First Lady and his daughters, who had planned to accompany him, will no longer be traveling with him. Jake Tapper writes: “The President will delay leaving for Indonesia and Australia – will now leave Sunday – the First Lady and the girls will not be on the trip,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs sent out on twitter this morning. Gibbs had expressed irritation yesterday...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2009 – Defense Department federal employees could receive up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a military family member injured in the line of duty if an Office of Personnel Management proposal is adopted. The proposal would allow eligible federal employees to take 26 "administrative work weeks" provided for under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for a servicemember wounded in the line of duty, OPM officials explained during a telephone conference call. The provision would extend to families of National Guard members or reservists injured while on active duty, explained Jerry...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 2, 2009) -- The Army wants Soldier-dads to know there is a new paternity leave policy available to them and spread the word to military bloggers at the Pentagon today. The policy, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush Oct. 14, 2008, allows new dads up to 10 consecutive days of administrative leave after the birth of a child. Leading the roundtable was Col. Larry Locke, chief of compensation and entitlements for the Army G-1. He said the policy is one way of showing appreciation for Soldier-dads, because leave time can take...

'Ban on Bhutto' leaving Pakistan Ms Bhutto says she has not been given proper security Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been banned from leaving the country, her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) says. PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told the BBC the party had written to the interior ministry over the issue. Ms Bhutto survived an assassination attempt on Thursday on her return to the country after years of self-imposed exile. Nearly 140 died in the attack. The government often bans opponents from leaving Pakistan. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Karachi says that the ban may be a move...

Federal employees, like other American workers, are entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave after the birth of a child. It's just not paid leave. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to change that, though. And at least one of the group's members believes that legislation to establish a paid parental leave policy for federal employees has a serious shot at passing this Congress. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has rolled out two bills that would provide at least eight weeks of paid maternity leave for civil servants, and paternity benefits as well. One bill (S. 80) would provide...

This video was taken when my son, Chris, surprised his Mom by not telling us when his mid-tour leave was starting. I figured out why his kid brother was acting strange one Saturday and had the camera ready. Later I took this video when his Mom came home from work late at night and walked in to find her "baby" standing in the living room.The next day, I was replaying the video upstairs in my office. Mom was downstairs with Chris and started complaining about the horror show Dad was watching with the volume turned way up. Chris said, "Mom,...

WASHINGTON - Rep. William J. Jefferson told congressional leaders Tuesday that he plans to take a temporary leave of absence from the House Small Business Committee after his indictment on charges of receiving more than $500,000 in bribes, according to a Democratic leadership aide. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because Jefferson's announcement had not been made public, said the Louisiana Democrat was stepping down while his legal affairs are resolved. A spokeswoman for the congressman did not have immediate comment. Jefferson's decision to take a leave from the panel comes a few days before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...